romantique

Since it's almost the month of love, I'd like to talk about what I consider as sappy & lovey-dovey. No, no, no....I'm definitely not one of those few sarcastic, single people who antagonize Valentine's just because it's another capitalistic, profit-making annual event that they can't appreciate.

I actually think it's the perfect excuse for the painfully shy to show how much they appreciate their objects of affection by letting down their guard and facing the possiblity of being either rejected or getting into the next level. So yeah, it's a fun time.

The first valentine's gift I received was from my husband...I was 12 that time and he was 14 (duh, of course we weren't married...we had just met that year)....or was it a birthday gift, whatevs I forgot. Anyway, it was a fan; black with small white polka dots. Fans were actually "in" that time and everyone would write at the back of each other's fans as if it were an autograph book or a yearbook. Now that I recall that period, I realize how cheesy it was 14 freaking years ago. But I was definitely touched...I wasn't really "Juliet" material (as in Romeo & Juliet) or Helen of Troy for that matter. I was homely & plain. So getting a fan from a boy...a very cute boy (you can stop with the eeewww thingie right now) was a huge deal.

Anyhow, courtship was simpler when I was in high school. What I love about the whole wooing thing is the love letter. I love letters. I love handwritten material....how it's full of erasures & grammatically incorrect but utterly honest. I always say low-tech rules, because it does. I'm not into chocolates or flowers...I'm into words.

Yeah, so count me in when it comes to being hopelessly romantic. If I ever write a book, it wouldn't be a textbook (wut da heck!) or a crime novel...it would be a love story. I prefer love story than romance novel...because romance novels are ah, uhm, ahem, ahem...a bit too graphic.

I'm going to stop making myself cringe right now.

dealing with disordered thinking (not me!)

The immediate family is going through a very private dilemma involving this psychosis (which I researched & proclaimed as a psychosis). Tunnel-vision towards an overly magnified negative incident is the tendency of this particular relative. I treasure my family, especially my siblings...the eldest sister/surrogate mother/real mother in me is instinctively protective.

I'm not completely making sense. So allow this post to be another abstract post.

I'm sure the blogosphere understands the necessity of ranting about personal issues. Let's just say I'd rather experience a problem rather than observe someone dear to me experience the same problem and be incapable of providing concrete solutions simply due to geographical isolation.

This is very cathartic.

anti-poser intellectual

What really is the current "hot topic" of scientific study this century? Or this decade? I suppose asking colleagues or academicians from my radical and unfortunately narrow-minded alma mater is not a good idea bcause I will simply be bombarded with a hodge-podge of "hot topics" from the physical & natural up to the social sciences, based solely on personal biases. But that's okay of course, since it means that these persons are truly experts of their respective fields. It is far more disappointing to encounter a person who is a jack of many, master of none.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Once again, the blind men and the elephant come to mind. Only a completely arrogant person can say that only one field is significant. Or that their field is the only significant field. It's like saying that existence is one-dimensional. I believe that there are clues as to what is of interest to society based on the news and where the money is. Check out http://scienceblogs.com/, read or watch the news, & find out which kinds of studies are preferred by major government and private funding agencies.

Obviously, there's much concern about global warming and it's effects on meteorology, biodiversity, & disease. I am incredibly frustrated that the government of this country shows no urgency to act on decreasing our emissions, changing our fuel source, taking advantage of the abundance of solar energy, improving our solid waste disposal (segregating & recycling), and many other things that are already being practiced by other countries.

I'm even more saddened by the realization that we Filipinos have become reduced to self-serving, materialistic consumers who take pride in having the best malls in the world and all aim to go overseas to earn more money, which we can spend on things that will improve our self-esteem by making our neighbors green with envy. Crab mentality at its best. I wish to think there is hope...but I'm losing hope at a rate similar to melting polar ice.

a whole new dimension

Winter is calming...it's not as depressing as I thought. I couldn't help but love waking up early to look outside and feel completely serene.Everything seems incredibly beautiful when laced by snow.There's something uniquely primal about winter...and I would love to be surrounded by it all over again.